Vigilante
by AgressiveNegotiations
Summary: Sometimes, it's the people we don't know who make the biggest impressions on our lives.


_Oh hi there! It's curently 3:04 am and I feel like I could run a marathon. Funny how I only get that feeling during times when I'm supposed to be sleeping..._

_But anyway, I hope you like this little story, because I've been meaning to write it for a long time now. I know that it's not that complex, and I didn't mean it to be. I just wanted to give a little example of what could be a random encounter in my ideal wasteland. So please, give me your feedback on how you feel about it!_

_And I know you're all wondering, but no. I do not own Fallout._

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Her feet hit the ground and started running before her brain could even process what had just happened. She could feel every pebble under her flimsy bramin skin boots, which were definitely not made for this sort of terrain. She jumped over a decrepit concrete pillar that used to be a support beam for the building to her left. The same building that had gotten her into all this trouble in the first place.

Jeremy had told her that going there would be a bad idea. But he knew just as well as she did that if they didn't find some food soon, they were screwed. Even more screwed then they already were. And that was saying a lot, seeing as their current home was propped up rusting bedframe they found behind a Freeside dumpster. For the past few months they had been living on what little food was provided by the NCR to it's citizens, but their supply had been cut off once things started heating up between the Republic and the Kings. Jeremy had suggested that they just beg by the entrance to Strip like everyone else, but it wasn't enough. They would have to act if they wanted to survive.

And that act had led them to this building. She had heard some stories about old canned food that could still be found on the shelves of the ruins outside of the city. What she hadn't heard were that these ruins were also the temporary home to a group of Fiends. Which in turn, led her to this. Running through the ruins of office buildings screaming like a gecko with its head cut off.

Jeremy had gone the complete opposite direction when the Fiends began to open fire. She kept trying to look over her shoulder to see if he was alright, but after the first few tries she realized that she wouldn't be able to do this without falling flat on her face. In one last attempt, she swiveled her head to the left to gage the distance between her and her attackers. There was no one there. She slowed to a stop, keeping her eyes behind her to make sure that nobody jumped out from behind a pillar to surprise her. Once she was sure she was sure, she turned forward…

…right into the barrel of a gun.

"You're fast" The fiend behind it laughed dryly, as if he had been planning this the whole time. "…But not fast enough". Behind him, two others came out from the ruins. The female approached her with a spring in her step.

"I always wanted a head with red hair!" she said happily to their newest victim, who was now on her knees. The fiend grabbed her short ponytail, and yanked out as big of chunk of hair as possible.

"Well it's your lucky day!" joined in the man on the right. "Because now you have two!" Two more fiends came around the corner, dragging Jeremy by his elbows, and then threw him to the ground in front of her.

"Jeremy!" she cried out helplessly. Blood was slowly oozing out of the cracks in his lips, and the bruises on his face were already turning blue.

"Save it, sweetheart." The woman said. "Nobody can help yo-" And like a firework, her head exploded.

"What the hell?" her male counterpart shouted out, turning in all directions to find the source of the attack. Just as he faced forward, a knife flew out of the air and lodged itself into his torso. He fell to his knees gasping, when a bullet found its way right between his eyes. He slumped over.

Jeremy tried his best to sit up. She was able to pull him up against her chest, both being scared and confused. She looked behind her and caught a glimpse of a figure. It was moving fast, dodging between pillars for cover against the remaining Fiend's defense. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the figure was in the open… and sprinting toward them.

She ducked in fear, holding Jeremy to her. She winced, preparing herself for the same gruesome fate as the Fiends. But to her surprise, the figure simply jumped over the two as if they were a puddle of irradiated water. It landed in front of them in a crouched position, as if acting as a barrier against the fiends. For the first time, she was able to get a good look them.

To her surprise, it was a young woman. She wore light leather armor, with a shotgun on her back and a rifle in her hands. An assortment of knives stuck out of her boots. And on her right wrist was some strange sort of mini computer. She paused there for a moment, wiping her long blonde hair out of her face, and reloading her weapon. And in an instant she was back in action, pouncing on the nearest Fiend. The woman delivered a quick kick to his midriff, causing him to hunch over in pain. She then did a swift uppercut to his jaw, which left him with no balance. On he fell to the ground, she used her rifle to finish the job. In a synchronizing fashion, the last Fiend's head exploded, leaving no one on the battlefield… except for the woman.

She turned to the slowly, approaching them with caution. Jeremy was in the fetal position on the ground, in front of her. She closed her eyes in anticipation for the blow that would end her life, just as it had to their original attackers.

After a few seconds of waiting, she realized that said blow was not coming. She opened her eyes timidly, to see not a gun in front of her face… but a hand. She looked up to the face of the young woman, who had a small smile on her face.

"Need some help?" she extended her hand a little farther.

She looked at the hand for a moment before cautiously taking it with her own. The woman pulled her up easily, and the two stood face to face. Though the woman's face was young and tender, it had a sense of hardness that she couldn't place. She couldn't help but notice a large scar on her temple from what looked to be a gunshot wound.

Suddenly, she remembered that she was not the only victim of the Fiends. "Jeremy!" she cried out, looking at the man beneath her. He was now in a sitting position, trying to get on his knees.

The blonde woman kneeled down and draped his arm around her shoulders. She braced his weight against her own and slowly pulled him up. Once he was up, the woman transferred him over to her.

"He'll be alright." The woman said reassuringly. "Just a little scraped up."

From around the corner, a man ran up to the three of them and took his place by the young woman's side. He wore sunglasses and a red beret, and had a sniper rifle strapped to his back. He didn't say much, other than asking the woman if she was injured. The woman smiled broadly in reply, and told him that she was just as much a mess as she was before the fight. He chuckled in reply, and the turned his attention to the two wastelanders in front of him. The blonde woman did the same.

"Can you make it back to Freeside?" she asked, nudging her head towards Jeremy.

"I think I've got it." She said in a trembling voice, readjusting Jeremy on her left shoulder.

"Alright. Try to stay away from these ruins, they're deathtraps."

"I'll remember that." She tried her best to crack a smile. The woman nodded to her and Jeremy before turning away from them and starting up the broken road ahead. The man in the beret followed her, and the two began to fade away into the distance.

"Wait!" Jeremy yelled in a raspy voice next to her. The woman turned around and looked back at them. "What are you? Some kind of vigilante?"

Even from far away, she could see the smile on the woman's face. "No. I'm just a courier."

And with that, she turned away, and walked out of their lives just as quickly as she walked in.


End file.
